Men are now much more reluctant to shake a female colleagues hand in the wake of #MeToo, study finds

Men are now significantly more reluctant to interact with their female colleagues in the wake of the #MeToo movement, a new study suggests.

Research to be published in the journal Organizational Dynamics has found that 27 percent of men avoid one-on-one meetings with female co-workers, a possible backlash to the movement which outed manipulative men in powerful positions. 

The research suggests men might be following a trend set by vice president Mike Pence, who once claimed to never have dinner with any woman alone aside from his own wife.  

According to the research, a further 21 percent of men said they would be reluctant to hire women for a job that would require close interaction, such as business travel.

And a shocking 19 percent admitted they would be hesitant to hire an attractive woman.  

Worryingly, the data suggests that the trend is worsening. The responses collected in 2019 from workers across various industries showed a growth in men’s fears around female colleagues.

In 2018, 15 percent of men said they would be more reluctant to hire women for jobs that requires close interpersonal interactions with women, compared to 21 percent in 2019. 

Meanwhile, according to the study, women also appear wary of hiring other women. And there was also an indication that men are more reluctant to shake a woman’s hand in case she thinks it’s harassment.   

The research suggests men might be following a trend set by vice president Mike Pence, who claimed to never have dinner with any woman alone aside from his own wife

The survey also sought insight into what men and women thought constituted harassment.  

The surveys described 19 behaviors, such as continuing to ask a female subordinate out after she has said no, or emailing sexual jokes to a female subordinate, and commenting on a female subordinate’s looks, and asked whether they considered this harassment.     

The results suggested that ‘most men know what sexual harassment is, and most women know what it is,’ Leanne Atwater, a professor at the University of Houston and one of the study’s authors, told the Harvard Business Review. 

‘The idea that men don’t know their behavior is bad and that women are making a mountain out of a molehill is largely untrue. If anything, women are more lenient in defining harassment.’